THE 2000 CAMPAIGN: THE REFORM PARTY; Perot Balking at Buchanan Tie, Official Says

Ross Perot, the founder of the Reform Party and its presidential candidate in 1992 and 1996, will probably not attend this year's convention of the party, which is expected to nominate Patrick J. Buchanan for president, an aide said today.

''It is pretty clear that if Buchanan is the nominee that Perot will not attend the convention or support the nominee,'' said the aide, a party official and Perot ally who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Mr. Perot did not return a phone call seeking comment, but another of his main supporters, Russell Verney, said, ''He has a very tight travel schedule for business this summer and no definite plans have been made one way or the other with respect to appearing at the convention.''

The party official said supporters of Mr. Perot felt that Mr. Buchanan's positions on social issues, including his opposition to abortion and gay rights, were contrary to the Reform Party principles against government involvement in private matters. Taking positions on either side of those issues, the official said, would deflect attention from the causes that led to the formation of the party, including its support for campaign finance reform and its opposition to some international free-trade agreements.

When asked to comment on the likely absence of Mr. Perot from the convention, Scott McConnell, a senior policy adviser to the Buchanan presidential campaign, said: ''Though Mr. Buchanan did not endorse Mr. Perot in 1992 or 1996, he has great respect for him and remembers fondly the battles against Nafta and the W.T.O., in which they were side by side.

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Asked if he would not be disappointed if the founder of the Reform Party did not attend its presidential convention, Mr. McConnell said, ''I think I'll stand by the statement that I said.''

There has always been a will-he-or-won't-he aspect to Mr. Perot's own candidacy for the nomination this year.

When Mr. Verney was asked whether there was any chance that Mr. Perot might enter the presidential campaign later, he answered, ''No. The window is closed.''

But Gerry Moan, chairman of the Reform Party, said: ''I still think there's an outside chance he'll be there. We hold out hope.''

On Monday, Mr. Buchanan announced that he had submitted petitions with 129,000 signatures, more than twice the number required, to get on the ballot in Texas.

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A version of this article appears in print on May 10, 2000, on Page A00029 of the National edition with the headline: THE 2000 CAMPAIGN: THE REFORM PARTY; Perot Balking at Buchanan Tie, Official Says. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe